Coupling device for carbonators



March 2, 1937. E. FERNHOLZ 2,072,629

COUPLING DEVICE FOR CARBONATORS Filed Oct. 4, 1934 lave/110)- eating with the atmosphere.

I Patented Man 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COUPLING nnvrcs FOR UARBONATORS Ernst Fernholz, Berlin-Tempelhoi', Germany Application. October 4, 1934, Serial In Great Britain January 15, 1934 3 Claims.

throttle valve and a liquid container whose closure or coupling device contains a relief valve and a non-return valve controlling the outlet of the passage through which gas is admitted from the steel bottle to the liquid container.

The closures of the steel bottle and container can be made to engage with each other. Upon engagement of the two closures the stem of the valve within the closure of the gas bottle is raised and gas can flow freely into the liquid container through the gas inlet which is controlled bya non-return valve.

In order to prevent an excess pressure to. be built up within the liquid'container, its gas inlet is according to the invention arranged to comrhunicate by means of lateral passages with a spring actuated diaphragm valve which controls passages arranged in the closure and communi Furthermore the inlet end of the gas bottle valve is according to the invention covered by a cap fitted with a fine orifice by means of which the throttiing efiect of the valve is increased.

The ordinary spring-actuated relief valves do not offer sufficient guarantee against accidents for household use, as in course of time they fail to work accurately, nor do they permit in case of danger the blowing off of sufiiciently large quantia 01 a very small excess of pressure within the liquid container it operates without a prior leakage having occurred and then permits the escape of gas to the atmosphere in such large quantities that even with the inflowof large quantities of gas the increase of pressure will amount to no more than about 4 of an atmosphere.

the closure bottle I, of glass or other suitable material, which has its neck fitted with a coarse thread opening K into a conical seating. Within said neck is arranged the body of a coupling device or closure constructed as follows. A closure body 2 has a coarse thread co-operating with that of the bottle, and also carries a packing ring 3 which engages with the said conical seating when the closure is screwed into the bottle. The body 2 carries, within a recess at its lower end, a none 10 4 return valve 4 constituted by a rubber sleeve 5. A hollow rod 6 is screwed into a .boss 2a at the upper end of the closure body 2. A cover "I is screwed into the top of the closure body 2, the

edge of a diaphragm B being secured between the 15 closure 2 and the cover 1. Within the cover 'I is housed a compression spring 9 which through a cup I 0 tends to force the middle of the diaphragm ii against the boss 2a. The'diaphragm 8 and the cup III have central apertures so that between the rod 6 and the diaphragm 8 an annular passage is afiorded. The rod 6 is at its top end provided with several lateral ducts I2 communicating with the bore of the rod, and the joint be- 1 tween the rod and the valve cover I is sealed by means of a rubber ring I I.

A small steel carbonic acid bottle I4 of about grammes capacity is closed by a valve body I5 which is furnished at its lower end with an internal thread and a packing ring I6 of soft rubber. The closure of the bottle I4 is effected by a mushroom valve I'l seating on a packing ring I8. A cap I9-which is screwed to the valve body !5 and serves to cover the valve has a small fixed throttling orifice 22!.v The cap It also serves-to prevent the valve H from falling into the bottle. The throttling of gas passing through the closure is'not only effected by the fine orifice 22 in the cap I 9, but also by the stem of the valve I l,'which is fitted accurately into the bore 01 the-valve body I5 without other passage for the outflow of the gas.

The apparatus works in the following manner: The glass bottle I is filled with water up to about %ths of its capacity, and the closure body 2 is screwed tightly into its neck. The closures of the two bottles are then interengaged by screwing an externally threaded stud 20 on the cover 1 into the internal screw thread of the closure body I5. By this, first the rubber ring I6 is compressed against its seat to seal the joint, and then the rod 6 raises the valve II, whereupon the carbonic acid can pass into the liquid-bottle I. The apparatus is now turned upside down so that the glass bottle is neck lowermost, whereupon it is vigorously shaken. In a period of about from 20-30 seconds the water becomes saturated with carbonic acid, while a pressure oi 5-6 atm. above atmospheric pressure has been created within the bottle I. Since the spring I of the diaphragm valveisadjustedtothispressuraassoonasitis reached the carbonic acid is in communication by way of lateral passages it with the chamber beneath the diaphragm 8, raises the diaphragm and thereby gains an outlet to the atmosphere, that is to say, it passes through the slit formed between the diaphragm and the boss Ia, through the annular space around the rod 6 in an upward direction and then through passages 2| into the atmosphere. The increase of pressure due to retardation of the escaping gas amounts to scarcely *th of an atmosphere, so that the bottle I is in no danger of bursting.

The coil spring 8.01 the diaphragm relief valve is so constructed that the diameters oi its turns gradually decrease from the base upward, in order that when the spring is compressed or released the top windings do not catch the edge 0! ;the cup l0 housing the spring.

from a second part 01' said socket and communicating at its inner end with the first mentioned passage; a hollow rod secured in said passage and having a channel therein communicating at one end with said valve controlled passage and at the other end with the interior of said bottle and at an intermediate portion with said lateral passage;

a cover arranged to define with said socket a chamber; an outlet passage through said chamber; a diaphragm in said chamber normally positioned to prevent the flow of gas from lateral passagethrough said outlet passage; yieldable means arranged to maintain said diaphragm in such position or to permit the diaphragm to move therefrom to place the lateral and outlet passages in communication, and an elastic device arranged to permit flow through said channel into said bottle and prevent fiow in the opposite direction; the valve actuating end of said hollow stem passing through said cover member.

2. A structure such as defined in claim 1, in

which the yieldable means comprises a cup shaped member and a spring arranged to act through said cup shaped member and urge said diaphragm against a seat at the end of said lateral passage,

3. A connection for directing gas under pressure from a flask into a beverage bottle, and comprising a closure projecting from the neck of said flask and a coupling device carried by the bottle, and detachably engaging said closure; the closure comprising a tubular member having a bore communicating with the interior oi the flask and terminating in an enlarged threaded socket, a pin slidable in said bore and defining with the walls thereof a restricted passage for the gas, and a cap provided with a throttling orifice and secured to the inner end of said member and defining with said end a chamber; said pin having a head engageable with a seat insaid chamber to control the flow oi gas through said restricted passage; said coupling device having a threaded stud detachably received in said socket, a stem having a portion located in said stud in position for acting through said pin to hold said head from said seat,

and said stem having a bore therein for conduct- -ing gas from said restricted passage into said bottle.

. ERNST FERNHOIZ. 

